BACKGROUND:
It's a natural steppingstone, almost a rite of passage, for any rock band to have a live album. Well, 13 years later and 800 concerts later, the time came for the ApologetiX to release their own live album, which they entitled Hits: The Road. This album contains 20 songs: 17 old songs and 3 new songs. Don't be fooled, though. This live album is not of a single concert. Rather, the 20 songs come from 6 different concerts in 6 different states, although I imagine they all come from the same setlist of the same tour. And kudos to the producers of the album, for they mixed it so well, you would almost think it all came from one single concert.
This album title is another beautiful play on words. Together, it sounds like a sentence: ApologetiX hits the road." To "hit the road" is a figurative way to say, "to travel," which fits for a live album. Separate, it also highlights the two major factors of the album. First, it contains hit songs from the ApologetiX library. Second, it consists of versions of these hit songs played at a live concert. This album is truly their hits on the road (as in concert). For a fun added bonus, to fit this theme, the CD label is black with a yellow outline and a white outline, looking like a road. Cool, huh!
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES:
Again, I will be upfront with you with my bias against live albums. I do not like live albums. Live albums are always of lesser quality of studio albums. Not only is the actual song less polished (in part due to multiple takes of studio albums vs. the 1 take of a live album), but the song also has to complete with environment issues, especially including fans screaming. I don't care how much of an important steppingstone or rite of passage it is for a rock band, I do not like live albums. So yes, that is a major part of why this album is so low on the list - my bias against live albums.
Hits: The Road has 20 tracks: 17 songs from previous albums and 3 brand new songs. To me, this is a lose-lose, no matter how many old songs and how many new songs the ApologetiX would have chosen for this album. In regard to the old songs, why would I listen to a live version when there is a better studio version on a prior album? Regarding the new songs, I end up wishing there was a studio version of them because I can nitpick all the imperfections in the song, from out-of-tune notes to the shrill of the fans. And yes, I know this sounds unfair making it a lose-lose scenario, and again, maybe it's my bias against live albums, but that's how I feel.
Let's go back to the album's title: Hits: The Road. The first word in the title, hits, communicates that this album should also be a greatest hits album just as much as a live album. For the most part, that reigns true, as most of these songs are hits. Of course, I don't expect the new songs to be hits, unless the ApologetiX can somehow prove that these songs were highly requested by fans in concert, even before they ended up on an album. I do raise an eyebrow, however, at the inclusion of "JC's Mom" (parody of "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne), "Are You Gonna Be Ike's Girl?" (parody of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet) and "It's Tough (Song about Nehemiah)" (parody of "This Love" by Maroon 5) on this album. All 3 of these songs just came out on New and Used Hits album the previous year. I have a hard time believing that 3 of the band's greatest hits came from their last album. Yes, I know that, on average, the majority of concert's songs will come from the band's most recent album, in order to encourage the fans to purchase the newest album. I expect that from an average concert, not a concert of your greatest hits intended for a live album. On a similar note, all these songs cover the greatest hits from Jesus Christ Morning Star to New and Used Hits. None of them come from Ticked!, Radical History Tour or Isn't Wasn't Ain't. I understand that the ApologetiX are not too proud of those older recordings, but that's a good excuse for a compilation album of greatest hits, not a live album of greatest hits. Heck, even the compilation album of greatest hits, New and Used Hits, represented some Radical History Tour and Ticked! Besides, a live album would have been the perfect time to update those old songs, if the band saw it fit to update those new songs.
Speaking of updates, that is where this album really shines. See, I originally got this CD for the 3 brand new songs, and that was it. Seriously, I burned the 3 new songs off the CD, added to my ApologetiX shuffled playlist, and that was it. Now, I listen to these live versions just as much as the studio recording. What changed? When I finally did get around to listening to the CD as a whole, I noticed some improvements on the songs. The biggest and most improved is "Cheap Birds" (parody of "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd"). In the original studio recording on Keep the Change, once J. Jackson finishes singing, the song fades out as the solo begins. I have a couple theories why. Perhaps, simply put, recording the long solo took up too much room on the CD, and they wanted to fit more parodies onto the album. Maybe, just maybe, the band recognized that the only difference between the original and the spoof is the lyrics, so if fans wanted to hear the long outro solo, they would just listen to the original. Let's be honest, though, Lynyrd Skynyrd fans listen to "Free Bird" for the solo, and ApologetiX fans wanted to listen to a solo for "Cheap Birds." Hits: The Road not only includes Karl playing the guitar solo (which he can do with a drumstick - I 've seen it live in person!), but it also gives Moose a drum solo. The second biggest improvement comes from "Kick in the Wall" (parody of "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd). The live version on Hits: The Road parodies the outro screaming on "Another Brick in the Wall" with "If he don't meet your needs, you just haven't been looking // How can you be looking if he don't meet your needs?" The yelling outro is missing from the studio recording on Biblical Graffiti. To make it a nice top 3, the third biggest improvement comes from "I'm a Receiver" (parody of "I'm a Believer"). The album credits both the Monkees and Smash Mouth for the song, but according to J. Jackson's journal, the ApologetiX aimed to spoof more the Smash Mouth version than the Monkees version. In my opinion, though, the studio recording on Grace Period sounds more like the Monkees version than the Smash Version. When the live version on Hits: The Road added the outro of alternating between "I believed" and "I received," now it sounds more like the Smash Mouth version. As one last honorably mention, in "We're in a Parody Band" (parody of "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk), I appreciate that J. yells out "Who's That?" in reference to Bill Hubauer joining the band full time to play keys (In J.'s journal, J. laments leaving out Bill Hubauer's name of "We're in a Parody Band," but I find that ironic because even the studio recording of "We're in a Parody Band" has keys it, which Bill Hubauer would have played!). All these new and improved updates to their greatest hits makes these live versions worth listening to just as much as the studio recordings.
There is also other additions, which are not necessarily improvements, but they do give a reason to listen to the live version just as much as the studio recording. In regard to the song "Are You Gonna Be Ike's Girl?" (parody of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet), the band pauses in the middle of the song to perform Saturday Night Live's Cowbell sketch, but instead of cowbell, it's the tambourine. I honestly wonder why they didn't just do a live version of "Don't Fear the People" (parody of "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult) because that's where the SNL Cowbell sketch originally came from. As a matter of fact, let me pause here and say that's the one song that should have been on the album, for they could have added the solo missing out on Grace Period. Perhaps out of fear of copyright infringement they parodied the Cowbell sketch into the Tambourine sketch. Without Debbie Messner touring with ApologetiX for this live album (I'm guessing?), the child voice in "Enter Samson" (parody of "Enter Sandman" by Metallica") gets replaced with a "demonic" sounding voice (from Karl? from Keith?) repeating the bridge, very fitting for a metal song. Also without Debbie Messner doing the "boys choir" part of Kick in the Wall (parody of "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd), it also just make perfect sense for J. to ask for audience participation. While none of these necessarily improve the song, they all give a different rendition of song, ones equally worth listening to as the studio recordings.
Despites my criticism early on, this album setlist and this tour's concert setlist has so much logical flow, it just makes common sense. First, the setlist introduces the band with "We're in a Parody Band" (parody of "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk). Next, it alternatives between hits and new songs. Then it goes full out with the hits, even more so by elevating the hits of the hits, the best of the best. Then the band presents the gospel message with "Didn't Just Die" (parody of "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney & the Wings and Guns N Roses) and "Died and Rose" (parody of "China Grove" by The Doobie Brothers), which has a perfectly smooth transition between the two. From there, J. gives a Gospel invitation with "Yes Today" (parody of "Yesterday" by the Beatles). From those who accepted the invitational, they can say, "I'm a Receiver" (parody of "I'm a Believer"), the perfect response song. The setlist finally wraps up with 2 more greatest hits, followed by 3 news songs bound to become hits. A lot of thought went into this setlist, which is always appreciated.
FAVORITE SONG: "Walk on the Water" (parody of "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple)
I probably should have mentioned this in the rules/guidelines of the introduction post, but I do not intend to have repeat appearances of a favorite song, no matter how much I love the song, despite the song occurring on more than 1 album. Because of my bias against live albums, I will never pick a live recording over a studio recording. Despite my praises on how Hits: The Road solves many problems of the studio recordings, I will still always prefer the studio recording over the live recording. That eliminates the first 17 songs on Hits: The Road, leaving 3 songs left. If my favorite songs from a live album appears on a past or future album, it's probably also a live recording, and I'm just stating which live performance is better. With that being said, "Found God" (parody of "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley) almost became this album's favorite song, for I feel like this album's live version sounds better than the one on 20:20 Vision. Ultimately, the award for favorite album on Hits: The Road goes to "Walk on the Water" (parody of "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple). I like my rock hard, and of the 3 remaining songs, this song rocks the hardest. While I think the shrill of the screaming fan during the intro ruins it, I can definitely relate to her excitement hearing those famous opening chords. I still feel the same way when the song shuffles onto my playlist. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Reading over J.'s notes in the songbook, I just learned they did another live version of this song for The Boys Aren't Backing Down. It ended up on the downloaded album, not the physical album, which I have because of the long length, due to a bass solo and a drum solo. I've never heard it, so I would need to hear it to make a fair judgment, but considering I have another favorite song on that album, I think my current favorite song would even beat out "Walk on the Water," so I am safe with my pick.)
FINAL VERDICT: 28th
Despite my bias against live albums, Hits: The Road does so many things right for a live album. It mixes hits with new songs. It updates old songs to make them better. It changes up songs to make the live versions with listening to over and over again. Even without the talking parts between the songs, this album still gives the concert feel with the antics that happen during the songs. Despite doing so many things right, it still has all the drawbacks of a live album. The background noise of screaming fans sometimes gets in the way of the pure sound of the music. Technical difficulties ruin things that a studio album could have easily cleaned up before releasing. Besides those general points, Hits: The Road specifically leaves out hits from Radical History Tour and Ticked! while wasting space with 3 songs from New and Used Hits that do not have the same establishment as the rest of the setlist. While the 3 new songs give long-time fans a reason to buy album, the same long-time fans will wish they had studio recordings of these 3 songs. All the negatives outweigh the positives, bringing the album so low on the list. Still, this album passes the test of time. Up to their last concerts, the ApologetiX still performed at least one of these songs, proving they were truly hits.
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